ATHENS PINS DOWN WINS OVER NP-LIBERTY, WILLIAMSON
By: Tim Birney / February 4, 2021 / Photo: David Alliger
ATHENS — Athens picked up a forfeit-filled 57-9 victory over North
Penn-Liberty here Thursday night in NTL wrestling action, then used a
flurry of falls to pin down a 45-30 win over Williamson.
Athens 57, North Penn-Liberty 9
The Wildcats rode nine forfeits to a 57-9 win over North Penn-Liberty in their first match of the night.
Rude
gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead with an 8-1 decision over Gavin Sexauer at
160 pounds, but NP-L’s Kohen Lehman topped Stafursky, 7-2, at 172
pounds to tie the match at 3-3.
Rosh received a forfeit at 189 to
give Athens a 9-3 lead, and after neither team sent a wrestler to the
mat at 215, Wildcat freshman Josh Nittinger had his hand received for
six free points to make it 15-3.
NP-L received a forfeit at 106,
but the Wildcats took forfeits in the final seven weight classes —
Bradley (113), Kyler Setzer (120), Courtney (126), Gavin McGrath (132),
Kaden Setzer (138), Fornes (145), and Bathgate (152) — to provide the
final margin.
Athens 45, Williamson 30
Athens won six
bouts in a row, including five by fall, to take a commanding lead early
en route to a 45-30 win over Williamson for its second win of the night.
After
the Warriors notched a fall at 132 pounds, Athens junior Kaden Setzer
started a Wildcat pin parade with a 17-second fall of Aidric Passerallo
to tie the match at 6-6.
Junior Lucas Forbes and sophomore Chris
Bathgate followed it up with back-to-back pins in 55 seconds, at 145 and
152 pounds, respectively, to give Athens an 18-6 lead.
After a
forfeit to junior Karter Rude, senior Zach Stafursky registered a fall
over Jacob Puffer in 50 seconds at 172 pounds, and junior Colin Rosh
decked Ian Bump in 1:25 at 189 pounds to make it 36-6.
The
Warriors won the next three weight classes, with a pair of forfeits
sandwiched around 285-pound standout Kade Sottolano’s first-period fall,
to trim the Athens lead to 36-24.
Junior Gavin Bradley, now 20-0, sealed the Athens win with a 14-second pin of Chelsea Hungerford at 113 pounds to make it 42-24.
After
a Williamson pin at 120 pounds, sophomore Jake Courtney closed out the
match with a 12-6 decision of Ayden Sprague at 126 pounds.
Athens, now 12-6, returns to action Saturday at the Line Mountain Duals.
About the Author
Tim Birney
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
